


The Hero Always Gets the Guy

by RetroactiveCon



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-30
Updated: 2019-11-30
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:34:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21619954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RetroactiveCon/pseuds/RetroactiveCon
Summary: Leonard keeps an eye on the Flash simply because he can. It's not out of any loyalty to the kid, nor is it out of the desire to watch him die a slow, cold death. It’s mostly to ascertain that he’s out of the line of fire. If, along the way, he’s become convinced that the kid’s life is his to take or not, that is only tangentially relevant.
Comments: 10
Kudos: 130





	The Hero Always Gets the Guy

Leonard keeps an eye on the Flash simply because he can. It's not out of any loyalty to the kid, nor is it out of the desire to watch him die a slow, cold death. It’s mostly to ascertain that he’s out of the line of fire. If, along the way, he’s become convinced that the kid’s life is his to take or not, that is only tangentially relevant. 

He’s in the midst of studying a bank for a job to be enacted some three months in the future when a gust of wind blows the door open. On principle, he rolls his eyes. As much as he likes making an entrance, there are times and ways to do so: when entering an unfamiliar bank, as Mark Mardon is wont to do, is not one of them. 

Wind whips through the room, scattering papers and sending hats and purses flying. Leonard hunkers behind a table and peers over the top. There’s no love lost between him and Mardon; they’ve been even since Mardon liberated him from Iron Heights. He’d just as soon ice him and leave him for the Flash to collect, but he wants to see what’s going to unfold. 

Mardon steps up to the register and makes the inane demands of every unpracticed thief. Leonard shakes his head. Mardon, like many small-time thieves, lacks the patience for the magnitude of jobs he and Mick pull off. He isn’t willing to study his targets in detail, and he’ll suffer for it. 

Someone must trip the silent alarm. One moment, all appears to be going well for Mardon; the next, a familiar scarlet blur enters the room and skids to a stop barely a foot from the registers. “Mardon!” the Flash calls. 

“Flash.” Mardon wheels on him. The bag he was using to collect the money falls to the floor, forgotten. Instead, he uses both hands to form a hailstone the size of the Flash’s head. “Now, this is a good day.”

The Flash’s red-gloved fists clench. He's probably remembering the beating he took from Mardon the last time they met. Leonard hopes it makes him eager for revenge and not hesitant to fight. “I’m giving you one chance to end this peacefully.”

“Hmm, let me think.” The hailstone revolves lazily in the air. Mardon feigns contemplation for a fraction of a second. “No.”

The Flash blurs into motion. As he does, Mardon’s hailstone fractures. Sharp chunks of ice scatter like shrapnel across the room. Leonard yanks the nearest people—a mother and her tiny daughter—behind the table with him and knocks it onto its side to shield them. While they huddle, he pokes his head up to watch. 

There are too many civilians in harm’s way for the Flash to charge directly at Mardon. Instead, he zigzags around the room, collecting ice shards. He fails to notice a particularly large shard until it sinks into his shoulder. The force of it sends him careening to the floor with a sharp, pained yell. Mardon follows it up with another hailstone that impacts the Flash’s brow and knocks him flat on his back. 

“See?” Mardon stalks over to the feebly stirring speedster. Leonard feels for the grip of his cold gun. He’s no hero, but he won’t tolerate Mardon damaging his little scarlet speedster. “You’re weak, Flash. You care too much, and that is why I’ll beat you time and time again.” 

“Mardon.” Leonard gets to his feet. He keeps the cold gun held loosely at his side. It would break his deal with Barry to kill Mardon if there’s another choice, and while he's willing to renege on a deal at need, he isn't cold enough to do it in front of the kid. Thankfully, he has options. 

“Snart?” Mardon wheels around in shock. He takes half a step forward; that half a step is all Leonard needs. He ices the ground beneath Mardon’s feet and watches him slide helplessly into the table. 

“Ice to see you, as always,” he says before bringing the gun down on Mardon’s head. 

Outside, sirens wail. Leonard holsters his gun and strides around the table to his Scarlet’s side. The police know Mardon and will take the correct precautions when incarcerating him. However, they’ve never come near the Flash, and today is the wrong time to let them. 

“Scarlet?” 

Barry stirs as Leonard scoops him up. His eyes are wide and half-focused; upon seeing Leonard, they light up with hazy glee. “Snart! I should’ve…ice pun…of course it was you. Why did you…?”

“If anyone in this town is going to kill you, Scarlet, it’ll be me.” The kid is alarmingly easy to carry. Leonard crosses the windswept room and heads for a side door he knows to be unlocked. 

“This doesn’t feel like killing.” Barry manages a dizzy smile and wraps warm arms around Leonard's neck. “It kinda feels like maybe you’re taking me to your secret rogue lair. Which I would let you.” 

Leonard arches an eyebrow. He knows how much stock to put in anything said while concussed (he’s had more than his fair share of concussions), but that catches him off-guard. “Really?”

“Mhmm.” Barry gives an exaggerated nod. “You…you saved me from Mardon. And everyone knows the hero always gets the guy.” 

Leonard can’t stop a short, sharp laugh. “Oh, Scarlet, you should know by now I’m no hero.”

He leaves the kid on a comfortable bench in an out-of-the-way corner of the park, far enough away from the bank not to draw attention. By the time he’s halfway up the path, Barry must feel better, because a scarlet blur speeds past Leonard, headed for STAR Labs. He watches that blur until it’s out of sight, thinking about Barry’s gleeful eyes and affectionate, unguarded words. 

He must have managed to freeze hell over, because he’s gotten attached to the little scarlet hero.

**Author's Note:**

> There's a sequel now: [No Hero (No Less Loved)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22513591/chapters/53796709).


End file.
